This evening the fifth day of the week-long Indian film festival taking place at RampArts Creative Centre in London's east end will be screening...
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Tales Of The Night Fairies -
Five sexworkers - four women and one man - along with the filmmaker/narrator embark on a journey of storytelling. Tales of the Night Fairies explores the power of collective organizing and resistance while reflecting upon contemporary debates around sexwork. The simultaneously expansive and labyrinthine city of Calcutta forms the backdrop for the personal and musical journeys of storytelling.
(Doors open 7.30 p.m. for 8 pm screening)
On SATURDAY doors open - 11.30 a.m. for 12 p.m. screening:
- War and Peace - "India gets another nuke bomb and celebrations and explosions of patriotism and nationalist fervour sweep the country. The film is a detail of the militarism wave with implications for India and Pakistan as well as a look at Japan and US - two countries with a shared nuke history." This film was heavily censored before it was allowed to be screened in India.
- In the name of God - "...focuses on the campaign waged by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP - Hindu fundamentalist group) to destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya said to have been built by Babar, the first Mughal Emperor of India. The VHP claim the mosque was built at the birthsite of the Hindu god Ram after Babar razed an existing Ram temple. They are determined to build a new temple to Ram on the same site. This controversial issue has led to a series of religious riots and finally culminated in the mosque's destruction in December of 1992. The resulting religious violence immediately spread throughout India and Pakistan leaving more than 5,000 dead, and causing thousands of Indian Muslims to flee their homes. Filmed prior to the mosque's demolition, this film examines the mo! tivations which would ultimately lead to the drastic actions of the Hindu militants, as well as the efforts of secular Indians - many of whom are Hindus - to combat the religious intolerance and hatred that has seized India in the name of God."
- Gujarat, A Laboratory of Hindu Rashtra - "Set in the fundamentalist violence unleashed in Gujarat from February 2002 on, this film documents the lives of people in about 14 villages in Anand District, Gujarat, in which the homes and businesses of the Muslims were burnt down, looted, and destroyed. In some of the villages such as Dharmaj, Siswa, Mogri, the Muslims who had been living there for decades have not been allowed to come back. Through interviews with VHP (Hindu fundamentalist group) leaders as well as with ordinary people in Gujarat, the film examines the reasons why Gujarat was a fertile ground for fascism."
- Passengers: A video journey in Gujarat -(Dir: Nooh Nizami and Akanksha Joshi) - "The genocide in the western Indian State of Gujarat is documented through the lives of a Hindu and a Muslim family. Filmed over a year and a half it follows the echoes of violence, intense pain and betrayal.The politics of division is experienced through the two families that form the micro unit of the Indian society. As sharp borders are drawn, each of the 'Passengers' are a testimony of the times that are in the process of forming the future of India and, perhaps, that of the world. "
Indian classical / rap and fusion music performances follow film screenings and discussions.
RampArt Creative Center:
http://rampart.omxtra.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=63
Five sexworkers - four women and one man - along with the filmmaker/narrator embark on a journey of storytelling. Tales of the Night Fairies explores the power of collective organizing and resistance while reflecting upon contemporary debates around sexwork. The simultaneously expansive and labyrinthine city of Calcutta forms the backdrop for the personal and musical journeys of storytelling.
(Doors open 7.30 p.m. for 8 pm screening)
On SATURDAY doors open - 11.30 a.m. for 12 p.m. screening:
- War and Peace - "India gets another nuke bomb and celebrations and explosions of patriotism and nationalist fervour sweep the country. The film is a detail of the militarism wave with implications for India and Pakistan as well as a look at Japan and US - two countries with a shared nuke history." This film was heavily censored before it was allowed to be screened in India.
- In the name of God - "...focuses on the campaign waged by the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP - Hindu fundamentalist group) to destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya said to have been built by Babar, the first Mughal Emperor of India. The VHP claim the mosque was built at the birthsite of the Hindu god Ram after Babar razed an existing Ram temple. They are determined to build a new temple to Ram on the same site. This controversial issue has led to a series of religious riots and finally culminated in the mosque's destruction in December of 1992. The resulting religious violence immediately spread throughout India and Pakistan leaving more than 5,000 dead, and causing thousands of Indian Muslims to flee their homes. Filmed prior to the mosque's demolition, this film examines the mo! tivations which would ultimately lead to the drastic actions of the Hindu militants, as well as the efforts of secular Indians - many of whom are Hindus - to combat the religious intolerance and hatred that has seized India in the name of God."
- Gujarat, A Laboratory of Hindu Rashtra - "Set in the fundamentalist violence unleashed in Gujarat from February 2002 on, this film documents the lives of people in about 14 villages in Anand District, Gujarat, in which the homes and businesses of the Muslims were burnt down, looted, and destroyed. In some of the villages such as Dharmaj, Siswa, Mogri, the Muslims who had been living there for decades have not been allowed to come back. Through interviews with VHP (Hindu fundamentalist group) leaders as well as with ordinary people in Gujarat, the film examines the reasons why Gujarat was a fertile ground for fascism."
- Passengers: A video journey in Gujarat -(Dir: Nooh Nizami and Akanksha Joshi) - "The genocide in the western Indian State of Gujarat is documented through the lives of a Hindu and a Muslim family. Filmed over a year and a half it follows the echoes of violence, intense pain and betrayal.The politics of division is experienced through the two families that form the micro unit of the Indian society. As sharp borders are drawn, each of the 'Passengers' are a testimony of the times that are in the process of forming the future of India and, perhaps, that of the world. "
Indian classical / rap and fusion music performances follow film screenings and discussions.
RampArt Creative Center:
http://rampart.omxtra.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=63 
